Heavens on Earth - Paperback
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Heavens on Earth by Carmen Boullosa
Winner of Mexico's prestigious Xavier Villaurrutia Award, Carmen Boullosa delivers a multi-layered narrative that weaves together three voices across different centuries. Heavens on Earth follows Lear (known as 24) in L'Atlàntide, a post-apocalyptic utopian society that increasingly restricts language use. Defying conformity, Lear transcribes the writings of Don Hernando, a 16th century Indian priest, and Estela, a 20th century translator of Hernando's work.
This literary fiction explores how three individuals separated by time and space find connection through the written word. As language faces extinction in Lear's world, she discovers strength in preserving these historical narratives. Both Lear and Estela ultimately rebel against their respective societies, fighting for the right to remember and document their histories.
Readers who appreciated Cloud Atlas and Savage Detectives will find similar narrative complexity in Boullosa's structure. The novel examines themes of memory preservation, linguistic freedom, and resistance against authoritarian control. Published by Deep Vellum Publishing, this paperback edition brings together political fiction, speculative elements, and cultural commentary.
Carmen Boullosa stands as one of Mexico's leading literary voices, recognized for her novels, poetry, and plays. Her previous work Texas: The Great Theft earned a PEN Translation Prize shortlist nomination and won Typographical Era's Translation Award. Translated by Shelby Vincent, Heavens on Earth maintains the author's distinctive voice while making this important Mexican literature accessible to English readers.
The narrative structure challenges conventional storytelling by threading three distinct time periods into a cohesive exploration of humanity's relationship with language. Don Hernando's 16th century perspective provides historical grounding, Estela's 20th century translation work bridges past and future, and Lear's post-apocalyptic struggle brings urgency to questions about cultural preservation.
About the Author: Carmen Boullosa has published over a dozen novels, with two designated Best Novel Published in Mexico by Reforma magazine. Her novel Before won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize for Best Mexican Novel, and La otra mano de Lepanto was selected as one of the Top 100 Novels Published in Spanish in the past 25 years. A Guggenheim fellowship recipient and Distinguished Lecturer at City College of New York, Boullosa's work has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian.
About the Translator: Shelby Vincent received her PhD in Literary Translation from the University of Texas at Dallas's School of Arts and Humanities in 2015. She is currently translating another of Boullosa's novels entitled The Virgin and the Violin, which is loosely based on the female Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola, and which Deep Vellum will publish in 2018.
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Heavens on Earth by Carmen Boullosa
Winner of Mexico's prestigious Xavier Villaurrutia Award, Carmen Boullosa delivers a multi-layered narrative that weaves together three voices across different centuries. Heavens on Earth follows Lear (known as 24) in L'Atlàntide, a post-apocalyptic utopian society that increasingly restricts language use. Defying conformity, Lear transcribes the writings of Don Hernando, a 16th century Indian priest, and Estela, a 20th century translator of Hernando's work.
This literary fiction explores how three individuals separated by time and space find connection through the written word. As language faces extinction in Lear's world, she discovers strength in preserving these historical narratives. Both Lear and Estela ultimately rebel against their respective societies, fighting for the right to remember and document their histories.
Readers who appreciated Cloud Atlas and Savage Detectives will find similar narrative complexity in Boullosa's structure. The novel examines themes of memory preservation, linguistic freedom, and resistance against authoritarian control. Published by Deep Vellum Publishing, this paperback edition brings together political fiction, speculative elements, and cultural commentary.
Carmen Boullosa stands as one of Mexico's leading literary voices, recognized for her novels, poetry, and plays. Her previous work Texas: The Great Theft earned a PEN Translation Prize shortlist nomination and won Typographical Era's Translation Award. Translated by Shelby Vincent, Heavens on Earth maintains the author's distinctive voice while making this important Mexican literature accessible to English readers.
The narrative structure challenges conventional storytelling by threading three distinct time periods into a cohesive exploration of humanity's relationship with language. Don Hernando's 16th century perspective provides historical grounding, Estela's 20th century translation work bridges past and future, and Lear's post-apocalyptic struggle brings urgency to questions about cultural preservation.
About the Author: Carmen Boullosa has published over a dozen novels, with two designated Best Novel Published in Mexico by Reforma magazine. Her novel Before won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize for Best Mexican Novel, and La otra mano de Lepanto was selected as one of the Top 100 Novels Published in Spanish in the past 25 years. A Guggenheim fellowship recipient and Distinguished Lecturer at City College of New York, Boullosa's work has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian.
About the Translator: Shelby Vincent received her PhD in Literary Translation from the University of Texas at Dallas's School of Arts and Humanities in 2015. She is currently translating another of Boullosa's novels entitled The Virgin and the Violin, which is loosely based on the female Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola, and which Deep Vellum will publish in 2018.
Contributor(s)
Author